The documentation generator generates an ID string for each element in the source code that is tagged with a documentation comment. This ID string uniquely identifies a source element. A documentation viewer can use an ID string to identify the corresponding metadata/reflection item to which the documentation applies.

The documentation file is not a hierarchical representation of the source code; rather, it is a flat list with a generated ID string for each element.

A.3.1

ID string format

The documentation generator observes the following rules when it generates the ID strings:

•

No white space is placed in the string.

•

The first part of the string identifies the kind of member being documented, via a single character followed by a colon. The following kinds of members are defined:

Character

Description

E

Event

F

Field

M

Method (including constructors, destructors, and operators)

N

Namespace

P

Property (including indexers)

T

Type (such as class, delegate, enum, interface, and struct)

!

Error string; the rest of the string provides information about the error. For example, the documentation generator generates error information for links that cannot be resolved.